By JAMES WALLACE, SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Published 9:00 pm, Tuesday, March 22, 2005

Although the Boeing Co. plans at least three versions of its 787, it now appears that only the longer-range 787-8 will be coming off the assembly line in Everett before 2010.

All Nippon Airways, the launch customer for the 787, said it will not take delivery of a short-range version known as the 787-3 until 2010 -- two years after the 787 enters service. Boeing also plans a long-range stretched model called the 787-9 but has said that plane probably won't enter service until 2010 or later.

Production of the first 787-8 is set to begin in 2007 and, after a test fight program, be ready for delivery to airlines in the first half of 2008. All Nippon will get the first 787-8.

Boeing so far has announced 193 firm orders and commitments for the 787, formerly known as the 7E7. It had hoped to have 200 orders by the end of 2004 but fell short of that goal.

In an interview last year, John Leahy, the top jetliner salesman for Airbus, said he was hearing from some airline customers that Boeing was having second thoughts about development of the short-range 787-3.

Leahy said be believed Boeing would eventually take the cheaper approach and build a lower gross-weight version of the 787-8 with less powerful engines.

But Boeing said that was nonsense, that it was committed to the 787-3. A company spokeswoman said yesterday that the 787-3 with the shorter wing will be developed in parallel with the 787-8 over the next couple of years, even though the first of the short-range planes is not scheduled to be delivered to All Nippon until 2010.

The first two years of production slots for the 787 already are filled with orders for the 787-8 model, the spokeswoman said.

But only two airlines, All Nippon and Japan Airlines, have publicly committed to the 787-3, which would seat 296 passengers in three classes. It would have the same size fuselage as the 787-8 but would have a smaller and lighter wing, allowing it to fit into gates now used by 767s. The 787-3 would have a range of about 3,500 nautical miles, compared with 8,500 nautical miles for the 787-8 and about 8,300 nautical miles for the 787-9.

Of the 50 planes ordered by All Nippon, 30 are for the 787-3 and the remaining 20 for the 787-8.

Japan Airlines has committed to buying 30 787s but has not firmed up the deal nor said how many 787-3 models it might take.

Both Japanese carriers are among Boeing's biggest 767 customers and use that plane on short-range domestic routes in Japan.

They use the bigger 777 on long-haul international routes.

The 787-3 would replace those domestic 767s with All Nippon and Japan Airlines.

The 787 will be slightly bigger than the 767.

While customer interest in the 787-8 has been strong, Boeing also has acknowledged that it is getting pressure from some airlines that want it to develop the stretched 787-9 sooner rather than later.

Boeing has said it wants the 787-8 to be in service for at least a couple of years before it takes lessons learned from that plane and applies them to the 787-9. The extra time would enable engineers to get the most efficiency incorporated into the next model, according to Boeing.

Meanwhile, the 767 is nearing the end of production as a commercial jetliner.

All Nippon has canceled four of its remaining 767 orders, swapping those for the bigger 777-300ER. At current rates, that represented six months worth of production.

Only 21 767s remain to be delivered to customers.

All Nippon also converted two of its remaining 767 passenger planes on order to 767 freighters.

The airline has been using a 767 freighter on routes into China, and it has been "very successful," a spokesman for the airline said.

All Nippon has only three 767s left to take -- one passenger model and two freighters.

Boeing is expected to announce in May or June a schedule for closing the 767 line. Assembly of the final planes would be accelerated, with production likely ending in late 2006.

Eventually, more 767s could be built in Everett if Boeing wins a contract from the Air Force for air-refueling tankers. But as far as production of the commercial jetliner that transformed air travel across the Atlantic, time is running out.